Seattle Mariners Honor Legendary Broadcaster Dave Niehaus
Saturday marked the anniversary of one of the greatest hires in Seattle Mariners history.
Lou Piniella was hired on Nov. 9, 1992.
Piniella managed some of the greatest players in Mariners history, including: Ken Griffey Jr., Ichiro Suzuki, Randy Johnson, Jay Buhner, Dan Wilson and Edgar Martinez, among others. He also helped lead the team to their first playoff berths in team history in 1995, 1997, 2000 and 2001. Those were the only postseason appearances for Seattle before it broke the 21-year playoff drought in 2022 under former skipper Scott Servais.
And Sunday marked the anniversary of death for the man who called all of Piniella's, and the Mariners', late-90s and early-2000s playoff runs.
American sports broadcaster and Ford C. Frick Award winner Dave Niehaus died on Nov. 10, 2010, at the age of 75.
It’s been 14 years since Dave Niehaus’ passing. We miss him every single day 💙 pic.twitter.com/iSgUPPuyes
— Seattle Mariners (@Mariners) November 10, 2024
Niehaus was the first and lead play-by-play announcer in Seattle's history. He called games from the team's inception in 1977 until his death in 2010. He called games for the then-California Angels for eight years before that, giving him 41 years of professional broadcasting experience.
Niehaus was considered one of the best sportscasters in America during his time with the Mariners. His Ford C. Frick Award, which is considered the highest honor that can be bestowed to a baseball broadcaster, is evident of that.
Niehaus was named Washington Sportcaster of the Year twice. He also threw out the cermonial first pitch in Seattle's first game at T-Mobile Park (then Safeco Field) on July 15, 1999.
By the end of Niehaus' last season in 2010, he had called 5,284 of 5,385 games played from when he was hired through the 2010 season. He had several iconic calls including "Grand Salami" for home runs and coined Ken Griffey Jr.'s nickname "The Kid."
He also called arguably the most iconic play in franchise history when Edgar Martinez hit a two-RBI double in Game 5 of a 1995 American League Divisional Series against the New York Yankees to send the Mariners to their their first American League Championship Series in franchise history. The play was aptly named "The Double."
Everyone remembers how fast Griffey Jr went around the bases on this play but Edgar Martinez’ double made it happen. One of the greatest playoffs highlights of all time pic.twitter.com/NUF61XCUMJ
— BaseballHistoryNut (@nut_history) July 23, 2023
Niehaus' impact is still felt at T-Mobile Park to this day. Niehaus has a plaque outside the stadium and the broadcasting side of the press box at T-Mobile Park is named "The Dave Niehaus Broadcast Center." He also has a statue in side the ballpark.
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